Postbacc, SMP, or something else?

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Hey, I don't know if this is the right subsection to post my question. Sorry if it's not.

I was a bio major for the first 2 years of undergrad, and was doing well. In my 2nd and 3rd years however, I failed/received low grades in my med school pre-reqs (due to unfortunate circumstance, as well as my immaturity) and was subsequently forced out of my major. At the same time, I decided against being a doctor. Now that I have graduated with a economics degree, I have been reconsidering the option, but know that my previous record will hold me back. (I would like to at least try for an MD instead of a DO)

I want to try getting into a postbacc program (for career changers), but I think I have taken too many science courses to apply. At the same time, I don't know if an informal postbacc will help me; nor can I apply for an SMP because I have not taken the MCAT. When I was put in the effort, I excelled at my science courses, so I know that medical school is doable. Does anyone have any suggestions for someone like me? I want to fix the mistakes I made when I was too immature to set my priorities straight. Could I even apply for a postbacc? I have also heard SMPs are an option, but I have gone so long without taking the pre-reqs that I will probably end up with a low MCAT score. Conversely, I know I could do great on the MCAT if I could brush up on my science. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to begin? I know that informal postbaccs are possible, but I feel as if I will be unable to enroll in the courses I need in a timely manner. Thanks for your help.

TLDR: made a lot of mistakes, do not know if I can fix it/ where to begin fixing my situation. Which program should I shoot for so that I can attempt to become an MD.

sGPA 2.65, cGPA 3.1 majorGPA 3.7, SAT 2350

 

[Mr.SoloDolo]

So first off, if you haven't taken prereq science courses in forever and not even all of them then screw taking the MCAT to get into an smp.

I think you could definitely still do a post-bacc. You'd be probably be surprised to find out that some of the post-bacc programs out there accept people that have taken some pre-reqs. I think Wash U is an example. Programs like that are flexible in that if you have no prereqs you can do them all at the program but if you have some done already then you can do the remaining ones. At the same time maybe they'll also let you redo classes (but I'm not sure). I would go on the aamc website that lists all 90+ post-baccs and just go through every website to find the flexible ones, even if there's only a handful.

I definitely empathize with you about the situation your in. But you clearly murdered the SAT and had a good major GPA so your whole story of just screwing up in undergrad a bit makes sense and doesn't come off as that terrible. Undoubtedly there will be some programs you off the bat can't apply to because of your cumulative GPA and some you can't apply to because you already have some science on your transcript. But I think some you still can. Off the top of my head I think Wash U but you'll have to check for more.

Even though it must be tough to admit that you were immature and maybe some people will judge you, I think there's plenty of other people that will understand the story. If you write a compelling statement about getting yourself back together, becoming reinvigorated academically towards the end, and wanting to fight to defy the odds and rectify past mistakes in science courses, you can potentially get yourself into a program.

 

[Mr.SoloDolo]

By the way, if you really really want to make the medicine route happen and you find that you can't get into a post-bacc, I don't see why an informal post bacc wouldn't help you. It definitely could. Especially if you can retake the science courses you screwed up at the same university to show that you're able to pick up the slack in those courses. At the end of the day you need great grades in science courses and a great MCAT score and an informal post bacc is one of the ways to achieve that.

 

[Dro133]

Figure out how many credits worth of A's you would need to bring your sGPA and cGPA up to at least the 3.2 range, and then take that many credits via an informal post-bac. Crush the MCAT. Move to a state that has medical schools that are very friendly towards its in-state applicants - network like crazy at those schools, and get recommendation letters from big-name faculty members.

That's basically what I did, and it worked for me, but there is certainly no guarantee. Every other aspect of your application has to be rock-solid, especially your essays, secondaries, and interview performance. Looking at your SAT scores, you should be able to do much better on the MCAT than I did, so that shouldn't be a problem. Whenever you are ready to apply to medical school, it might not hurt to apply to SMPs as backups -- if your GPA is in the 3.2 range with a solid MCAT, you shouldn't have trouble getting into any of the better ones (Georgetown, BU, Cincinnati, etc.). But again, other than increasing your GPA and crushing to an MCAT, moving to the right state and knowing the right people could be the best thing you can do to improve your chances.

Good luck!

 

[heybubbaa]

Hey, I don't know if this is the right subsection to post my question. Sorry if it's not.

I was a bio major for the first 2 years of undergrad, and was doing well. In my 2nd and 3rd years however, I failed/received low grades in my med school pre-reqs (due to unfortunate circumstance, as well as my immaturity) and was subsequently forced out of my major. At the same time, I decided against being a doctor. Now that I have graduated with a economics degree, I have been reconsidering the option, but know that my previous record will hold me back. (I would like to at least try for an MD instead of a DO)

I want to try getting into a postbacc program (for career changers), but I think I have taken too many science courses to apply. At the same time, I don't know if an informal postbacc will help me; nor can I apply for an SMP because I have not taken the MCAT. When I was put in the effort, I excelled at my science courses, so I know that medical school is doable. Does anyone have any suggestions for someone like me? I want to fix the mistakes I made when I was too immature to set my priorities straight. Could I even apply for a postbacc? I have also heard SMPs are an option, but I have gone so long without taking the pre-reqs that I will probably end up with a low MCAT score. Conversely, I know I could do great on the MCAT if I could brush up on my science. Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to begin? I know that informal postbaccs are possible, but I feel as if I will be unable to enroll in the courses I need in a timely manner. Thanks for your help.

TLDR: made a lot of mistakes, do not know if I can fix it/ where to begin fixing my situation. Which program should I shoot for so that I can attempt to become an MD.

sGPA 2.65, cGPA 3.1 majorGPA 3.7, SAT 2350

I do not think that you are eligible for a career-changer post bac that would do you any good. The good programs have phenomenal acceptance rates; however, they also routinely reject non-science majors with 3.8+ gpas. Your gpa, coupled with the fact that you are very likely ineligible for such a program due to having taken so many science courses, would seemingly rule this route out.

For MD, you will need an SMP. But, in order to even apply to an SMP, you need to have completed all of the pre-reqs for medical school...

So, you will need to spend the next 1-2 years taking science courses at a local university, while also volunteering and shadowing when you have time (after you get comfortable acing out full course-loads). Get all A's, and your sgpa should approach 3.0. Do well on the MCAT, and you will be eligible for a good SMP. Do well in the SMP and you can get into medical school. It should take yoou about 3-4 years starting today to get an MD acceptance. I know that the prospects are daunting, but you really dug yourself into a hole. It is doable; however, if you can see yourself being happy doing anything besides medicine then I would recommend doing that thing.

 

[Mr.SoloDolo]

That might have worked for you, but that's sort of an elaborate plan that glosses over the real question here which is where can the OP take premed courses. The OP said he is not in a position to take the MCAT until he/she completes those classes. The decision comes down to doing all of those courses informally or trying to get into a post-bacc.

 

[Mr.SoloDolo]

Yeah what @heybubbaa said. That would be a good plan

 

[Dro133]

That might have worked for you, but that's sort of an elaborate plan that glosses over the real question here which is where can the OP take premed courses. The OP said he is not in a position to take the MCAT until he/she completes those classes. The decision comes down to doing all of those courses informally or trying to get into a post-bacc.

Agreed, I don't think there's any question that the OP needs to do a post-bac; he can't get into med school or a respectable SMP with his current GPA. My point is though, that even if he can bring his GPA's up to the 3.2-3.3 range, that will place him at about the 10th percentile GPA of most medical school classes. Thus, it would benefit him greatly to aim for an IS-friendly public school, while possibly applying to SMP programs as a backup (depending on how badly he wants to get in).

OP, in my experience, it is not too difficult to sign up for classes as an informal post-bac student. Your mileage may vary of course, but if a class fills up quickly, you can generally get a registration override from the professor if you send them an email explaining your situation.

EDIT: This is assuming you can bring your GPA up to 3.2-3.3 through post-bac classes. If this cannot realistically be done, then @heybubbaa is correct in suggesting an SMP after bringing up the GPA to ~3.0.